Nigeria to send more troops to find missing schoolgirls
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E-mail Xinhua, February 24, 2018
Nigerian president Muhammadu Buhari on Friday said he will be sending more troops and surveillance aircraft to search for schoolgirls who were declared missing after suspected Boko Haram terror group attacked their college in the northeastern state of Yobe last Monday.
In a statement, Buhari assured the families of the missing students from the Government Girls Technical College in Dapchi area of Yobe that no effort will be spared to bring succor to them, as troops will be mandated to "keep an eye on all movements in the entire territory on a 24-hour basis, in the hope that all the missing girls will be found."
On Thursday, the Nigerian government said it was not yet sure of the number of the missing girls and pleaded for more time to assess the situation.
Buhari described the incident as a "national disaster," saying "the entire country stands as one with the girls' families."
The tragedy of the missing girls has brought back memories of a similar occurrence four years ago in Africa's most populous country when more than 200 schoolgirls, also from an all-girl college, were abducted by Boko Haram in the northeastern town of Chibok.
According to officials, at least 46 students are still unaccounted for following Monday night's attack. Other reports put the figure at 13.
Over 94 students were missing at first. But the state government said 28 returned late Tuesday and 20 more came back early Wednesday.
Police and local officials said there was no evidence that the girls had been abducted but the Yobe government suspected that some of the students are in Boko Haram's captivity.
A local teacher said as Boko Haram outlaws went into students' dormitories, many of the girls jumped over the fence and escaped into the bushes.
Some of the girls who had returned told the school authorities that they were rescued by villagers from the bushes.
The outlawed Boko Haram group has been trying since 2009 to establish an Islamic state in northeastern Nigeria. They have killed some 20,000 people and displaced millions of others.
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